Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Listen To The Pros

I've been reading quotes by writers this morning. One section of the website dealt with Readers--the very people all writers need to keep in mind. You'll find some good advice in the ones below. A few words from a pro can be as good as an entire classroom lecture of nearly an hour. Read them, then read them again. If an author interests you, google him/her to learn more about what they write.

1. I think the first duty of all art, including fiction of any kind, is to entertain. That is to say, to hold interest. No matter how worthy the message of something, if it's dull, you're just not communicating.Poul Anderson

2. The only test of work of literature is that it shall please other ages than its own.

Gerald Brenan

3. Those who write clearly have readers. Those who write obscurely have commentators.

Albert Camus

4. The virtue of books is to be readable.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

5. I want story, wit, music, wryness, color, and a sense of reality in what I read, and I try to get it in what I write.

John D. MacDonald

6. Write what you want to read. The person you know best in this world is you. Listen to yourself. If you are excited by what you are writing, you have a much better chance of putting that excitement over to a reader.

Robin McKinley

7. Tell the readers a story! Because without a story, you are merely using words to prove you can string them together in logical sentences.

Anne McCaffrey

8. Usually, when people get to the end of a chapter, they close the book and go to sleep. I deliberately write my books so when the reader gets to the end of a chapter, he or she must turn one more page. When people tell me I've kept them up all night, I feel like I've succeeded!

Sidney Sheldon

If you'd like to read more quotes by writers, go to this website where you'll find a veritable bouquet of quotes, all nicely divided into sections for you. Some are amusing, others serious, but all are of some worth.

About Me

I have been published in 18 Chicken Soup for the Soul books, several other anthologies, newspapers, magazines and ezines. My writing includes award winning fiction for children, creative nonfiction, poetry, travel and personal essays. I was named Prose Writer of the Year in 2013 by the Kansas Authors Club. A former teacher, I continue to teach through the written word.